Minji somehow managed to sleep through the entire night until the next morning. When she woke up, she felt rested and not as exhausted as yesterday. She blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes, opening them to look at Baëkhyun who seemingly hadn’t budged an inch from his spot on the bed. Sometime during the night, she must have moved closer, and now her legs were tangled with his and her hand clutched his black shirt tightly. Blushing, she glanced up in his face to find him observing her.

“You’re up,” he commented. “Feeling better?”

She swallowed, being at a loss for words and hypnotized by the gorgeous blue of his eyes. His snow-white hair was a bit messy, fluffy strands hanging in his face. He looked handsome even after lazing around in bed all night. She only realized that she had been staring at him shamelessly when she saw his lips forming a smug smirk. The blush on her cheeks darkened and she cleared , needing another moment to find her voice.

“Yeah, thanks for staying with me.”

“It was entertaining to watch you sleep,” he smirked cheekily and earned himself a nudge from her.

“Oh shut up, you’re sounding like a ert,” she retorted, before she added, “Wait, that’s because you are!”

He gave a mock offended frown. “You’re hurting my feelings! I’m a very well-behaved demon.”

“Yes, your manners are exceptional,” she replied sarcastically but found herself smiling at him, seeing a cocky gleam appear in his eyes.

“That’s what I said, sugar,” he whispered, voice sounding rough and sending shivers down her spine. He shifted around a little until his lips were closer to her ear and she felt his breath touching her skin.

“I helped you fall asleep, now where is my reward for the hard work?” he drawled, his slightly suggestive tone revealing what he was thinking of. She blushed and became flustered, looking at him with wide eyes.

“What kind of reward?” she asked breathlessly as his hand moved teasingly over her waist.

“I think you already know,” he whispered, breathing a kiss on her neck. He was back to playing his games like she was already used to, but she couldn’t say that she minded. Right now, she was grateful for every little distraction she could get. She wanted to pretend that she was alright, just for a bit longer.

“Fine, you’ll get your reward,” she smiled, suddenly feeling bold. Perhaps she could turn the tables and surprise him for a change.

Minji pushed herself up and shifted around on the bed, straddling her legs to sit on his toned stomach. He didn’t move and observed her curiously, waiting for what she would do. She buried one hand in his silky white hair while the other followed his silver chain over his cheekbone down to his jawline. She playfully tugged at the chain and saw his eyes darken with lust, but he still didn’t move and let her do whatever she wanted.

She bowed lower and lightly pecked his lips before she deepened the kiss. His touch lit a fire within her that made her thoughts go wild. They revolved solely around him and she forgot about everything else. She parted her lips and their tongues connected, prompting him to growl lowly. His hands found their place on her back, pushing her closer to his body.

Minji was breathless when they ended the kiss, but she wasn’t done yet. Her eyes followed his sharp jawline and she ended up kissing the side of his neck. “Thank you,” she mumbled softly, not specifying what she meant, but he knew what she was talking about. Sighing quietly, he watched her with an indescribable expression in his eyes. When she moved back a bit, he sat up and tilted his head, biting his lower lip.

“You know… it’s really hard to hold back when you’re acting like this, sugar.”

She blushed. “Then don’t hold back,” she whispered, and his eyes flashed. He drew in a breath, and then she suddenly felt his lips on hers. He kissed her impatiently, taking the lead. She was embraced by his arms and her body melted, leaning into him. His teeth grazed her lower lip, making her want more. She shivered with desire, hearing him chuckle in amusement.

Eventually, he pushed her on her back and hovered over her, never once breaking the kiss. She was addicted to him and couldn’t get enough, craving his touch. However, there was a sudden coldness seeping into her body that threatened to snuff the fire in her out. She fought it down, trying her best to focus on Baëkhyun and nothing else, but her mind didn’t leave her alone. As soon as she felt his hands encase her wrists and his weight pushing her into the mattress, she tensed up and opened her eyes abruptly.

No, this couldn’t happen again. Not again. She did her best to hide her trepidation, but it didn’t take long for him to catch on. He met her gaze and saw raw fear in it. His eyes narrowed and he ended the kiss, sitting up and letting go of her.

“I don’t think that was a good idea,” he said and frowned. She knew what he was referring to and couldn’t help but hate herself. Why did she have to be like this? Why couldn’t she just ignore her stupid fear? Tears of frustration pricked at her eyes and she held them back with some difficulty. The last thing she wanted was to start crying in front of him.

“I won’t push you away again. Just… go on,” she said too quickly and without thinking.

“There’s no need to force things,” he said calmly, his thumb moving over her cheek in a circular motion as he cupped her cheek with one hand. “It would be easier if you just told me what’s wrong. There has to be a reason why you are reacting this way.”

“Talking about it isn’t easy for me. It never is,” she sighed deeply and avoided looking at him. She pulled the blanket closer and hugged it to her chest. “Remember when I told you about my ex?” she whispered.

His eyes turned bloodred within a second and she winced. “Yes, I do,” he said in an icy cold tone, recalling what she and Läy had revealed to him. It hadn’t been much, but enough for him to know that her ex was despicable. “What happened? What did he do to you?”

Minji’s eyes dropped down on her legs. She felt torn about this, but she knew that it probably wasn’t reasonable to keep this from him. They were stuck together, so she could at least give him some insight...

“I was Dongmin’s girlfriend for around half a year. He was very charming at first and we got along well. I ended up moving in with him much too soon, after only knowing him for about two months. In hindsight, I should have never done that, but I was naïve and thought I had found the love of my life. I had no idea he had another side that he hadn’t shown me yet,” she explained with some difficulty. Her fingers kept fidgeting nervously with the blanket and she still couldn’t look at him. “Suddenly, he started to be violent with me. He hit me for the most insignificant reasons. One time he didn’t like the food I made and ended up punching me in the stomach. I had a bruise for a whole week and… and it hurt badly. Another time he… he was in the car with me and we had a small argument about something really stupid.” She stopped and swallowed, hugging herself as tears welled up in her eyes. “He broke my rib. It hurt so much, I-I couldn’t breathe properly for a long time. Whenever I tried to run or defend myself, he would only retaliate harder and hold me down while he beat me. I get very anxious when I’m in a position like that. Being trapped and unable to move always triggers my fear.”

She stopped and took a deep breath. Talking about it made her feel like a dam within her had been broken. Everything that she had kept to herself for so long came spilling out at once. It was overwhelming but also liberating to get it off her chest. Baëkhyun didn’t say anything for a while and the silence in her bedroom became tense.

When she finally gathered the courage to lift her head, she flinched. Terrifying red eyes glared at her; an aggressive scowl having appeared on his face. She felt a strange otherworldly power radiating from his body. “Baëkhyun?” she whispered unsurely.

“When I get my hands on him, he’ll wish he had never been born,” he snarled furiously. “Despicable piece of . Hell would be too good for him!”

She sighed and had to admit that she agreed with him, but his violent approach to things didn’t sit right with her. It made her uncomfortable. “Now you know,” she mumbled and wiped a tear from her eye. He took her chin in a gentle grip and tilted it up slightly, locking his red eyes with her brown ones.

“Don’t cry over him. He isn’t worth it and he isn’t worth the pain in your heart either.”

“I know that, but it’s hard to turn off,” she said reluctantly. “If only all of this had never happened, but I guess there was no way to avoid it. My guardian angel must have done a ty job at protecting me.”

He snorted, rolling his eyes. “Not every human is graced with a guardian angel and it seems like you went emptyhanded,” he said coldly, not liking to speak about angels. “But since we’re bonded now you would have lost yours anyways. Sinners don’t get divine protection.”

“O-Oh… I didn’t know that,” she said and looked even more defeated than before. How much bad luck could someone have?

“Even so, angels are boring, you wouldn’t want them around you. They always play by the rules, never having any fun. We demons are superior at literally everything,” he said haughtily. “And besides, don’t you think I’m so much better at this protection stuff than an angel? I think I’m doing great work here. It’s been over a month and you haven’t kicked the bucket yet.”

He looked extremely proud of himself and she couldn’t help but smile seeing his arrogant grin. This demon was too full of himself, and yet she found his behavior oddly amusing, sometimes even endearing. He wasn’t the perfect gentleman, actually he was far from it, but she was fond of him and had grown used to his shenanigans and snarky comments. She could hardly imagine living without him. Not all demons were entirely bad, she had learned that much so far.

He observed her for another moment, trying to read her. He was aware that she was in an unstable state right now; he could feel it. Cautiously and very slowly, he put his arms around her and embraced her loosely so she wouldn’t panic.

“Try to calm down now,” he whispered in her ear with his velvety voice. She leaned into him and curled her body up against his chest with his arms around her.

“Can we stay like this?” she mumbled in his shirt, her voice muffled, but he heard her regardless.

“I don’t mind,” he answered, leaning back to get comfortable. Since she had already closed her eyes, she never noticed the victorious smirk on his lips, and she didn’t see the red in his iris vanish either.  

They remained like this for a long while until Minji was starting to feel sleepy again. She kept her eyes closed and listened to his steady heartbeat, felt the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. If she ha